Constructing a new world. Featuring commentary and reviews on games and their systems.

In WoW, there are sets which provide bonuses depending on how many pieces of the set you are wearing. Sometimes, these sets are strong enough that gear outside the set isn't worth using. Sometimes they are weak enough that you don't want any of the set, or just a smaller part of the set. Then when you get new gear, which would otherwise be an upgrade, you don't want to use it as it would break those set bonuses which defeats the purpose of gear upgrades. As a rogue main, I used T8 until I had 2 piece T10, as T9 completely sucked (this also meant I was finished with T9 badge gear long before anyone else in my guild).

What if, instead of the bonuses for sets being on the gear itself, they were on an upgrade item like a gem or rune? Blacksmiths or the like could add special sockets or some kind of slot to certain pieces of gear ( a limit of one per piece of course to prevent stacking) which these items would be able to be placed. New gear which would otherwise be an upgrade could then be taken and used while keeping the set bonuses. I think this could solve the gear leaping problem where a majority of designed gear is skipped in favor of set pieces.

Just a thought: Why does the initial game world have to be all there is? What I mean by that is the MMO so far has the player growing in power until they hit a cap, and there they are. Why not let it scale infinitely?

As players play through MMOs, they gradually get more powerful and defeat stronger and stronger foes. Eventually there has to come a point where they run out of enemies they aren't strong enough for (this begs the question of how those enemies got so powerful themselves with nothing to fight against. Did they grind 4 million boars?). This is already starting to be a problem in WoW. We've already defeated a good majority of the most powerful characters in lore, and will have most of them licked by the end of Cataclysm. An elemental Lord, two direct children of Deathwing, Illidan, a Dragon Aspect (soon to be two), the Lich King, Archimonde (even though it was a travel back in time deal), TWO Old Gods, and then.....not much else on the "still on Azeroth" scale. The other two old gods (or possibly three, depending on if they retcon The Master's Glaive to be a dead lieutenant or something) and possibly a second Algalon type entity arriving, and there is literally nothing else on the planet more powerful. You would have to step up to Actual Kil'Jaeden, then maybe find Sargeras out in the Nether, then maybe a few of the other Titans, and then you're done.

The entire time, the heroes remain as ordinary mortals. Mortals that can slay gods and Titans. Why does that have to be? Why can't the players eventually become gods, or at least half gods, along the way? You defeat all the evils of your world and the gods say "Grats. As a reward, you can be a god too." And you can then continue on to other worlds and fight greater evils, and maybe even make your own worlds.

I dunno. I just think it would be cool to take a character who was once a lowly farmhand (who lost his home when the farm was burned down by bandits) and turn them into an all powerful god of the cosmos.

I've been playing Lord of the Rings Online since my WoW account expired and it's now free to play. They use a trait system instead of talents for customizing your character. These traits are earned by doing things in game as opposed to as you level. You get empathy for completing quests. you get justice for killing brigands. Etc.

What if these traits were more than just stat bonuses? What if they also affected how you speak to NPCs? There are already things like text options and dialogue wheels that let you choose (in a limited way) what you say to NPCs. Why not have these traits affect what options are available, allowing the dialogue to go in directions that others wouldn't see? This could open up entirely new quest paths, allow players to negotiate better quest rewards, or even open up new skills to be learned from trainers. There could also be "negative" traits as well, allowing a wider range of bonuses and even changing the way the game is played. Ruthless would grant pets and hirelings higher damage (because you push them harder), but causes them to be more willing to abandon you after taking enough damage. Evil would grant a bonus to shadow damage spells and abilities and give you greater control over undead minions. And so on.

The main thing here is that I'm trying to come up with ideas that bring an RP play style into the main part of the game. Playing on RP servers basically since I've started playing MMOs, it seems that most players regard RP as something that is done in town. When you are out questing or doing instances, RP becomes impractical. I want to bring about a game where a character's actions have impact on what happens to them and where players have to consider their actions' consequences before leaping into the fray. A paladin who is an upholder of all that is good and just running into the forest to slaughter squirrels and bears en mass doesn't really seem like it would be in character.

I know a lot of my ideas would make for a game that is extremely niche and not very widespread, but I think it would make for a game that is highly immersive and rich.